The El Paso Community College (EPCC) Hispanic Heritage Committee will host a series of events for the annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. This year’s theme, Preserving our Legacy, will focus and honor those who have impacted the El Paso community.
California based, award-winning author Victor Villaseñor will share his stories with EPCC students during this year’s annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
This year’s celebration will encompass several free events including the Veteran’s Event: Untold Stories of Hispanic American Veterans. Veterans will speak about their experiences and a video documentary and a panelist discussion will follow; Campus Read-Ins invite the public and students to read a poem or work of or about a Hispanic American and a screening of Empowering the People, the story of Willie Velasquez, who in 1980 registered 1 million Latinos to vote. His legacy lives on today.
This screening, made possible through a partnership with KCOS-Channel 13, will be at 6:00 p.m. September 29 th at the Administrative Services Center, 9050 Viscount Blvd. Building A.
The Mentor’s Dinner will honor influential past and present members of the El Paso community where Victor Villaseñor, award-winning author of Rain of Gold, will be the keynote speaker.
Selected mentors for this year’s dinner are UTEP President Diana Natalicio, The Mora Family of Chico’s Tacos, Fred Loya Sr. and David L. Carrasco. Carrasco will be presented with the award posthumously. His son, David Carrasco, a writer, activist and a professor at Harvard Divinity School, will receive the award on his father’s behalf.
The kick off for the month-long celebration will be from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., on September 16 th at the Rio Grande Campus and end with a Mentor’s Dinner on October 14 th . During the dinner two EPCC students will be awarded $1,000 scholarships.
All events at EPCC campuses, except Mentor’s Dinner, are free to the public. Tickets for the dinner are $25 and will be on sale September 1 through September 30 at any EPCC cashiers offices. Tickets may also be purchased online.
For more information, contact (915) 831-3324 or https://www.epcc.edu/hispanicheritage. Visit us on Facebook.
